Bullet Time
by Kaz3 n0 Tsurug1
Summary: The moment when Max rewinds one last time.
_A/N: I'm late to the_ Life Is Strange _party, but better late than never! I was busy playing_ The Last of Us _, to which I was also late. It may not have been the best idea to play both games back to back. All my feels!_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own_ Life Is Strange _._

* * *

"Where'd you get that? What are you doing? Come on, put that thing down!"

Tachypsychia. That's one of the things I remember from science class. That's the fancy word that describes that moment when everything slows down to bullet time due to an instance of traumatic stress. That moment when your brain floods your body with adrenaline. That "fight or flight" moment. Impending death tends to have that effect, and not only does everything slow down, but suddenly your senses are heightened.

"Don't EVER tell me what to do! I'm so SICK of people trying to control me!" Nathan growls with gun in hand.

The smell of dirty water and bathroom cleaning chemicals burns my nose, and even worse is the stale aroma lingering in the air from the countless scented beauty products, ranging from cucumber melon body spray to rose water hand lotion to Chanel No. 5 perfume. The fluorescent lights are a blinding white and the buzzing noise emitting from them is deafening. The single stream of natural light coming from the window in the upper corner of the bathroom is even brighter and it acts as a spotlight upon the butterfly perched on the sink. While everything appears to have gone a cold gray, it's the butterfly's wings that are a vivid, glowing blue, and with every flap of its wings I can hear and feel the dank air move. It's a low, beating sound, just like the sound of my own pounding heart in my ears, except despite my adrenaline spiked heart rate, that too sounds slow and booming.

"You are going to get in hella more trouble for this than drugs."

I'm afraid of what's going to happen, and yet I can't bring myself to do anything. This was a bad fucking idea. I should never have come back. The butterfly is still there. It's so lucky, it can always escape. Its wings are so hella fucking blue. What was that thing about butterflies and Chaos Theory? What the fuck, the random shit that has time to go through your mind when time slows down. I guess this is part of that whole "your life flashing before your eyes" thing. I feel a headache coming on and I'm starting to feel faint.

"Nobody would ever even miss your punk ass, would they?" Nathan threatens.

I must be experiencing tunnel vision now. The bathroom walls are getting hazy and blue is all I see. Blue is the color of sadness. Blue is the coldest color. Cold as the metal of the gun in Nathan's hand.

"Get that gun away from me, psycho!"

The gunshot makes my body jolt and the sound is ringing in my ears. I feel completely numb, and I'm expecting my vision to fade to black as the butterfly escapes out the window, but I still see blue. Blue is the color of her eyes. Who is she? Where the fuck did she come from? Has she been in here the whole time? I had checked all the stalls and there was nobody here. She just appeared out of nowhere from behind Nathan. Wait, I know her! Max? MAX!

"Oh, shit! No! No, no, no, no, no!" Nathan is yelling frantically, but now the prick's voice sounds distant and I really couldn't give a fuck about him.

Ironically, my mind is doing an instant replay of what just happened. The only reason I came back to this bullshit school was to blackmail Nathan for drugging me, then I would have enough money to pay off Frank and leave this shithole town with Rachel, if she showed up. But this bitch ass just had to bring a gun. He had me pressed up against the wall with his gun to my stomach, and just as I was about to push him off, I literally — no exaggeration — just watched Max pull him back and come between us. She just fucking took the bullet for me. She hella saved my life. Max, my real angel.

"MAX!" I can hear myself screaming, but my voice is also miles away.

And now as I catch Max's body, she leans forward and kisses me. The way her lips touch mine tells me this is not our first kiss. Her mouth knows my mouth the way only a lover would, but this is the first time I'd seen her since she left five years ago. I didn't even know she had come back. She is all grown up and more beautiful than I remember, and if my heart wasn't in maximum overdrive before, she certainly made it feel that way now. After all, she was my first crush. But I can also feel thick, warm liquid quickly spreading and seeping through the back of her clothes onto my hands, and then her lips fall away from mine. I lower her down to the floor as her legs give way. Her eyes, the same luminescent blue as the butterfly's wings, never leave mine.

"Please, no… Max… Oh, Max, no, no! Please, not you! Max, why?" I cry in disbelief.

Max reaches up weakly and touches my face, and with her other hand she holds up an old-school Polaroid photo. It's a shot of the butterfly, the only other witness to the crazy shit that just went down, and underneath, hastily written undoubtedly in a Sharpie by the smell of it, are the words, "I'll always love you, Chloe. Don't you forget about me."

"Max, no! Don't you leave me again!" I plead desperately, but I hear her lungs sigh their last breath, and she's gone. This can't be real. After all these years, I finally get Max back only to have her taken from me. I still loved her. I loved her so much… How can she be dead? What kind of world does this?

I barely notice my step-ass barging into the bathroom and pinning Nathan down to the floor. All I see is blue.

What I wouldn't do to have the power to rewind time.

* * *

 _A/N: Team Bae over Bay. But I really think there should've been a third option for Max to sacrifice herself. It's her fault for messing with time in the first place. Would that save everyone she loves and cares about (except maybe Kate, 'cuz Max wouldn't be around to stop her from jumping)? Who knows, there's an infinite number of ways things could've gone differently, hence the beauty of Chaos Theory, but at least it'll definitely stop her from messing with time. Also, if you haven't played_ The Last of Us _, get on it! Especially the_ Left Behind _side story! But make sure you play the main story first because spoilers!_


End file.
